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My Dear Srijan,The quota debate goes on, tuhogh, the decision has been taken by the Govt. I must congratulate you about the Govt's decision, tuhogh, i am disappointed, not that i cld hope for the outcome to be otherwise.Somehow, your blog and a few responses to it have deeply agitated me. Maybe, the reason for this is the fact that you are my friend and what you think matters more to me than what some faceless journalists say and think.I donot want to get into any debate on this as your views are firm and no amount of debating is going to change them. I just want to share a few of my experiences and maybe, you would realise that some or maybe a lot more people from the so called privileged classes have similar life stories.My grandparents and parents were no privileged people. The women of the family worked on the fields and cut grass for the cattle they owned.The men worked on the fields and if they were lucky enough they worked outside the village and sent money home.My father used to walk miles, how many I donot remember, but suffice it to say that he had to leave home for school while it was yet not dawn. He had no shoes, no money. He completed his matriculation in this manner. Despite being a bright student, the lack of funds and the image of his father's bent back while working in the field and carrying grass, forced him to take up a job. All his life he worked hard as a clerk. I remember him as a very respected member of society just because he was kind hearted, hard working, principled,disciplined, religious and the most upright person I have ever known. He worked for a company which alloted quarters to its employees and fortunately for us each quarter had some land which could be used as a garden. I don't remember the castes of my neighbours as we were never caste conscious nor caste was ever a topic at home.(I earnestly request you to please send me a list of the castes that come under OBCs so that I may be enlightened at this late stage in my life.) But this much I do know that very few (almost none)had the usual castes associated with brahmins like Sharma , Pande, Tiwari, Tripathi etc. My father made use of that little piece of the garden to the hilt.Every morning he would work at it for hours and grew lots of vegetables. He was an artist with that little patch of land. He planned beautifully and we had almost all possible fruit trees at the periphery. None of whichever caste that lived there with similar patch of land ever bothered to work so hard at it. We almost completely depended on it for our fruits and vegetable needs.My mother,the privileged lady, had studied upto class 2. After which she too had worked in the fields and cut grass till dad brought her to his workplace. But I am proud to say that she knows more about Hindi literature than most Hindi post graduates.How? Even when we could not afford new clothes we always had newspaper and magazines( Saptahik Hindustan,Dharmyug, Chandamama, Kalyan) subscribed. Mother even subscribed to Ghareloo Library Yojana which took away a princely sum or Rs 7 so that we could read about all the freedom fighters etc. Well these were our luxuries! Now that my mother lives in Maharshtra she has taught herself marathi and reads a marathi newspaper. Till my father's death she wore a mangalsutra which was a few black beads strung on a thread. I have seen the less privileged people wearing gold.We were five children. I never remember my mother in any fancy saries. I remember my father's darned clothes. Yes darning was another art perfected by my father and mother.We studied in a school which was like any any govt school, except that it was run by the factory where dad worked.It was vernacular. we sat on the floor along with all the kids of clerks, workers, plumbers, electricians, sweepers and all those who worked there. I don't remember that I ever tuhoght whose kid was sitting next to me. A lot of my class fellows work as drivers /cleaners on trucks that ply there and the rest as workers, plumbers and electricians etc in the same factory even today. I know of atleast one who became an engineer.This school was upto 8th. After that we went to the nearby city.I never remember having more than one uniform. The only difference between us and the rest was that the 1st thing that I did on reching home was to wash it.The 1st thing that I did on waking up was to iron it.I never remember eating a thing, drinking a cup of tea in college canteen.Later when after retirement we were living in the city, I always walked it to college,never even took a bus even in the hot afternoon sun.If we managed to not get spoilt inspite of our privileged background, it was thanks to my parents. The 1st and last time my brother used abusive language, my mom fasted and read the whole Ramayana as penance. If my brother had to take tutions to survive in his prestigious college and its hostel , that too was his privilege. Now u ppl are so kind as to see to it that we and those of our kind do not have to go through such painful experiences. We can go back to tending our cattle. That would be our just deserts too as in some previous birth we harmed some OBCs or DEFs or whoever.The trouble is I don't know who they are.Anyway, actually, that would never happen.Do what you and people of Lalu's ilk do, we would still come through. If not as doctors and engineers then as BPO employees.Those who work hard and intelligently enough would be successfull even reprocessing the garbage. So i have no fear. By the way, what caste do people of mixed marriages fall into? Do not tell me the father's. I am a bit of a feminist. My children have no caste. I have, but I have never cared much about it.Frankly speaking, I do not know why am saying all this to you.But anyway, now I have unburdened myself a bit, so will send this to u.One in the opposing camp,Pragya.PS: Srijan,this was supposed to be a private letter,but I am ready to share it with others who may understand(in case they have the capability to do so)my view point.Pragya.